Industrial HVAC, Cracked heat exchanger

Written by admin, 7 February 2022

JW Portable Welding & Repairs fixes semi-permanently leaks on cracked heat exchanger, industrial HVAC and/or commercial HVAC using industrial grade commercial epoxies. These type of cracks in large aluminum units cause many leaks. And unfortunately, they are signs of manufacturing mistakes or imperfections. These manufacturing mistakes or imperfections usually refer to faulty welding, imperfect joint design or sometimes missing weld.

These leaking units cause many damages due to its leaks in winter and in summer. As these units usually are located on the roofs, their leaking cause concerns of maintenance people. In winter they cause large accumulation of ice and in the summer hot leaks can cause premature aging of roof. The leaking industrial HVAC and especially leaking cracked heat exchanger increase the risk of roof damage. And the increased risk of leaks through the roof .

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Fixing these leaks on industrial HVAC or cracked heat exchanger is not easy

Fixing these minor but annoying imperfections is not an easy task during the operation of industrial HVAC or operation of its heat exchanger. Certainly, the proper fixing will have to involve seal welding of aluminum using GTAW or GMAW.

Although, this plan sounds relatively straight forward there are few concerns such as lack of access, position on the roof, lock out of the unit, disconnecting the large size pipes, removal of insulation and finally landing the unit on the ground. Again, the proper fix will have to include assemble of the unit, placing it back in position and then connecting it.

Significant cost of repair, extensive planning, narrowed time window

The cost of fixing such minor manufacturing mistakes would be significant but the reward rather minimal. Also, project manager would have to coordinate variety of tasks with multiple trades. Trades involved could possibly include pipefitters, riggers, insulators, possibly millwrights and finally aluminum welders. The labor cost of hiring so many different contractors in order to eliminate a few leaks will put in doubt such project.

Moreover, aside of significant cost and extensive planning with multiple trades, the project coordinator will have a relatively narrow window for implementing such project. The early spring and late autumn would be suitable. But the early spring does not las long in Canada, so the only left is late autumn window. Unfortunately, the late autumn window is a busy season for every contractor. And, they usually raise cost for all projects during the pick season.

So what is the solution to these annoying leaks?

We seals leaks on industrial HVAC or cracked heat exchanger

Since our solution involves sealing leaks with industrial grade epoxies, we do not require proper access to the leak. We can also do it during the operation of the unit which reduces the cost of disassembly and disconnection, and then landing the heat exchanger or other parts of industrial HVAC on the groung. Some removal of insulation is necessary but it is not excessive.

As long as we can handle the temperature of the hot water and we have at least minimal access, these leaks will be sealed semi-permanently.

The semi-permanent factor of epoxy application is still the access to the leak. Unfortunately, we have to clean the aluminum surface prior epoxy application and lack of access sometimes makes impossible a proper surface cleanup. Application of epoxy on to dirty surface make it unstable and consequently the seal can fell off. Fortunately, these repairs are relatively inexpensive considering the overwhelming cost of proper repair.

We start with tightening bolts on the seal

Prior epoxy application, we always tighten the bolts on large seals. As millwrights we know what kind of pattern we have to follow in order to eliminate bulging flanges. Also know what tension we have to use for the seal to work perfectly. The unproperly tighten seal cause many leaks and therefore we make sure that all seals on the unit are properly tightened

Timing of leak elimination using epoxies is crucial

As everything in life, timing is crucial also for epoxy application. The best timing window to eliminate leaks on cracked heat exchanger or other components of industrial HVAC is hot Canadian summer. Although, the metals get hot and the sun reflection can cause problems, the epoxy dries perfectly in these temperatures.

Please contact us to eliminate leaks from the heat exchanger of your industrial HVAC and deal with the leaks during the complete shutdown. And, here is the link to company who is very serious about large industrial and commercial HVAC units.